


Sunlight On Your Skin

by claremontpsych



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Brightwell, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Malcolm Bright Gets a Hug, Romantic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Wedding Fluff, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:02:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23321377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/claremontpsych/pseuds/claremontpsych
Summary: Of course, they both took a moment to change clothes and whatnot, but in no more time than necessary, they bid a farewell to Sunshine the parakeet and raced off to catch a red-eye flight to a beach far, far from New York City. As the plane took off, Malcolm could only say one thing.“Here’s to forever, Mrs. Bright. And a million more evenings in which I get to see the sunlight on your skin.”OR, a Brightwell one shot in which they vow to love each other in sickness or in health, for the rest of their days.
Relationships: Gil Arroyo & Dani Powell, Gil Arroyo & Malcolm Bright, Malcolm Bright & Ainsley Whitly, Malcolm Bright & Dani Powell, Malcolm Bright & JT Tarmel, Malcolm Bright & Jessica Whitly, Malcolm Bright/Dani Powell
Comments: 5
Kudos: 47





	Sunlight On Your Skin

Malcolm Bright and Dani Powell were not a superstitious couple, by any means. Unfortunately, Jessica Whitly is a superstitious woman, and thus their wedding must go so very by the book. The date was set, as was the venue-- mid Autumn at a beautiful outdoor venue in the heart of the city. The rehearsal went precisely as Mrs. Whitly herself had hoped, and the rehearsal dinner was the same. That meant, unfortunately, the hard part for the beloved couple. Splitting up for the night, as Dani was whisked away by Jessica and Ainsley (coincidentally the maid of honor), and Malcolm spent his night in, ensuring that his groomsmen (JT and a handful of boarding school and college buddies) were fine and dandy. He refused the mere concept of a bachelor party or anything of the sort. He’d rather his final night as an unmarried man go as any other night did that got him here: eating licorice and talking to his parakeet until he fell asleep-- that is, if he fell asleep.

Dani spent her night in a glamorous five-star hotel with the Whitly women, mostly reminiscing on her whirlwind relationship and the fact that somehow, she actually managed to find a man she wanted to marry. She spun the diamond engagement ring around on her finger, fondly thinking back to the night he proposed.

It was the previous winter. Yeah, they planned quickly, as Dani had set her heart on being married in Autumn, and Bright refused outright to wait another full year to call her his bride. Despite being a ridiculous klutz, he convinced her to go ice skating, and immediately following he bought her tea (Earl Grey, of course), and proposed as soon as the tea hit her hands. She almost dropped it on him, really. His speech was long, but she remembered most of it, and she recites it in her head on the nights she can't sleep. It was the only time, to date, that she has seen the man cry when not in pain. He was just that damn in love with her. The rambling consisted primarily of a repeated “I am so in love with you”, “you are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid my eyes on”, and her favorite line: “you are the reason I became better”. She knew it was the truth-- he had promised her early into what was once a friendship that he would make an effort to become better for her, and every day since he has proven how seriously he takes his promises.

Her thoughts then drifted all the way back to when they met. He was an acquired taste of a man, she remembered Gil telling her that. He busted onto the crime scene with a vigor she had never seen, and he poured his soul into solving the case that mimicked his own father’s killings. He risked his life for her then, solving that case, for the first time, and it was also the first time she watched him unravel before her. Admitting to being the prodigal son of the city’s most prolific killer, with tears in his eyes, nearly taking a syringe of paralytic agent directly to the Basilic vein. The team saved the day, of course, but it was one of those moments that you never really forget. She saw a lot of his quirks in that first case, really. Through cutting off a man’s hand, nearly getting himself killed by tackling her in the middle of a crowded precinct, risking himself in her favor-- she knew he was odd, sure, but she trusted him from that moment. And earning her trust was incredibly difficult. 

She then thought forward, again, to the rehearsal. The moment that it truly set in: she’s about to marry him. She’s about to find herself a member of the insane family that is the extended Bright/Whitly family. New York City’s elite is now welcoming a rough-and-tumble Bronx detective into their world, and though she’ll never fully shake the culture shock she experiences with them, she wouldn’t have it any other way. They hadn’t made it here without experiencing some pain, of course. They’ve fought, like any other couple. Jessica didn’t love Dani at first either. She’d have rathered Malcolm with the heiress to another millionaire family. Unfortunately, a mother can only control her son so much. Eventually, Jessica grew to love her soon-to-be daughter in law.

A million other memories raced through Dani’s head as Jessica and Ainsley made last minute calls on her behalf to ensure all plans were 100 per cent a go for the following day’s proceedings. As they confirmed the entertainment, Dani entertained herself by remembering the day she asked Gil to be the one to walk her down the aisle. With her own father long deceased, she knew of none other than the man that saved her life to be the one to give her to Malcolm forevermore. He was so honored to even be in consideration that he, too, cried in front of the Detective for one of the first times ever. 

It was these thoughts that pulled Dani into a dream filled sleep. Dreams of tomorrow’s events going perfectly that her wedding-night-jitters soured into a nightmare that jerked her awake come two in the morning. She saw the bright red blink of the clock on her side table remind her of the ungodly hour, and she took it upon herself to splash some water in her face and take a walk around the hotel lobby before going back to the bridal suite and resuming her slumber. Lucky for her, this round of sleep led her to promptly 6am, at which point that pesky little red clock screeched out a wake-up call to the room.

She doesn’t much recall the act of getting ready. Her makeup was kept effortless and simple, in the way she prefers, and her hair was left curly-- tamed only slightly to allow for her veil to be clipped in at the crown of her head. That, of course, followed her putting on the fated wedding dress, which she remembered slipping herself into. The gown was a beige-ish off-white with a layer of white floral lace. Off the shoulder with a deep v neckline, it was a perfect combination of modesty and flamboyance, and Dani had fallen in love with it from the moment she first saw it. She never saw herself as the type to wear a ball gown to her wedding, but alas. Here she was.

It felt like the blink of an eye, but really it had been several hours of being pampered by the time they were finally ready to send Dani off to the venue, with both Jessica and Ainsley following to keep the bulk of her skirt from touching the ground. God forbid the dress be stained by absolutely anything. 

As they worked to perfect any last minute touch ups, Malcolm aimlessly paced about the venue with a surge of nervous energy. He was dressed simple, yet dapper in a way only he could pull off. His suit was an oxblood red-- the accent color to an otherwise earthy and neutral wedding, with an offwhite button up and pocket square. Dani had chosen it, of course. Groomsmen and bridesmaids followed in a similar fashion-- groomsmen in all neutral and bridesmaids in all red, to create a bold color scheme that made Jessica Whitly sigh. Oh well, Malcolm thought. Gil was going about his duties (currently ensuring that Malcolm didn’t combust), watching the kid from across the room.

“Bright, are you good?” He called across to him, watching as Malcolm visibly jumped at the sound.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Totally cool. Nothing’s wrong here,” He nodded, still pacing.

Gil just sighed. He could be the last man on earth, and Malcolm Bright would still kill himself with his own anxiety levels. He had the weight of the world on his shoulders, and only now was he even considering sharing his burdens, his troubles, with somebody else.

A brief few additional rounds of pacing ensued before someone-- God knows who, at this point, informed Malcolm that it was his time to get out to the altar. Guests were going to be taking their seats momentarily. He acknowledged the man, walking down the long expanse of the reception hall to the door that leads him to, presumably, the rest of his life. Or, y’know, the stone altar positioned between two large (and absolutely gorgeous) trees in the wide outdoor space that they called perfect for the occasion. He took his place, and in no time at all, guests were seated and out came the groomsmen and bridesmaids. Half a second later, it felt like, the music cued and the crowd stood and the door swung open into the outdoor space once more to reveal the man akin to Malcolm’s father (albeit not biologically), with the bride herself on his side. 

Malcolm could feel his jaw fall open at the sight of her. As stunning as ever, of course, and soon to be his for all of eternity. Gorgeous in the way of her makeup and the way the dress hit her curves just right, but also in the fact that her skin seemed to glow in the early evening sunlight. The golden light reflected off her in such a way that she almost appeared golden herself, the sunlight on her skin making her look like an award, a trophy. The best thing Malcolm could ever possibly be awarded was Dani herself. He knew just how lucky he was to have a woman like her. Hell, he teared up a little the closer she got to him, and a tear did in fact spill over when Gil placed her hand into his own. He smiled at her.

“Hello, gorgeous,” he mouthed to her, careful to remain silent as to not interrupt the officiant’s opening speech.

She blushed, rolling her eyes at him and swallowing down the nerves she still felt. This was really happening, right in this very moment.

The two recited their vows flawlessly. Tears were shed yet again. Malcolm made an additional promise of his increased caution right around the “in sickness and in health” bit, making sure she knows that he’ll stop grabbing active landmines for her if need be. However, if it meant saving her life, he’d play twister on the landmines to hold every single one down. She cried a lot when he said that one. Gil and Jessica cried too. Ainsley even lost a couple tears, which was surprising for the typically stoic Whitly. Malcolm wiped his own tears as the officiant informed him that he may now kiss the bride, and oh did he ever. He grabbed her by the waist, pulled her in as close as he possibly could, and kissed her passionately. He knew he absolutely had her lipstick on his face, but he couldn’t care less. The crowd, albeit intimate, cheered for the newly married couple, but really everyone was just glad to see the two finally happy.

The time between the ceremony and the reception was brief. It was nearing late evening, dinner time, so they elected to skip all of the cocktail hour formalities and cut straight to dinner. Being introduced, together, as Mr. and Mrs. Bright made Dani shed one more tear that she didn’t know she still had, and the two assumed their position at the table and ate and enjoyed and held hands under the table the whole time like it was middle school and nobody knew that they were together. Gil delivered a speech about what it was like to know them both for the better portion of their lives, and how nobody was better for them than each other. Jessica, shockingly, gave a similarly kind-hearted speech of her own. Malcolm toasted to his impeccably stunning wife, whom he simply could not believe chose to marry him. Dani toasted to her brilliantly handsome husband, for whom she shared a similar surprise in. Upon finishing the meal, the pair cut the cake-- red velvet and vanilla marbled with buttercream icing, elegantly decorated and stacked into several tiers. 

Malcolm did, in fact, smash the forkful of cake onto Dani’s nose. She returned the favor, cleanly landing a jab to his nose, too. They also seriously fed each other the cake, because when in Rome. They saved a slice of the cake for their first anniversary, too, as a promise to the future of their love. They shared a first dance, of course, at which point Dani threatened to kick him in the business yet again. The action was in jest, hinting back to another moment in their very strange history. It was enough to make Malcolm’s head dip into her shoulder, suppressing a laugh that would’ve otherwise shaken his whole being. The pair enjoyed the rest of their reception by dancing, talking to the guests, and never once being more than a few feet apart. You couldn’t have split them if their lives depended on it. When the night reached it’s tragic end, though, Dani was more than happy to kick off her heels and eagerly race back to their shared loft (yes, the same one Malcolm has lived in all this time), grabbing their already packed bags for the honeymoon. 

Of course, they both took a moment to change clothes and whatnot, but in no more time than necessary, they bid a farewell to Sunshine the parakeet and raced off to catch a red-eye flight to a beach far, far from New York City. As the plane took off, Malcolm could only say one thing.

“Here’s to forever, Mrs. Bright. And a million more evenings in which I get to see the sunlight on your skin.”

**Author's Note:**

> The title of this one is inspired by the song "Sunlight On Your Skin" by Lil Peep and iLoveMakonnen! I really just love writing domestic and good Brightwell content and sharing it with the internet, tbh.
> 
> You can always find me on tumblr as claremontpsych! I don't bite!
> 
> Don't forget to leave Kudos/comments :)


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